How Long Does It Take to Renew an ITIN?

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An ITIN, acronym for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, is a number assigned by an IRS to those who pay taxes but don’t qualify for a Social Security Number, but earn sufficient amount of money, which fulfills the criteria of a taxpayer. Along with complying to the U.S. Federal Tax Laws, they help in swift return and payments not associated to the Social Security Number. In order to apply for an ITIN, those individuals are also eligible who receive stipends, or scholarships from well-known universities. Applying for an ITIN number is important because without a social security or an ITIN, a tax return cannot be processed.

Renew ITIN

An ITIN number is subject to expiration and IRS sends a notification and indicates that ITIN needs to be renewed. It’s better not to wait for the notice and take apply for renewal pro-actively. One thing is to remember is that you should wait until your ITIN is scheduled to expire, IRS announces expiring ITINs every year; so it is easy to know when you should apply for the renewal.

For ITIN renewal, there are few requirement and a certain procedure that you have to follow.

Fill-in the Form for Renewal:

You need to fill IRS form w-7; application form which indicates the renewal of ITIN and submit to the IRS. It is easy to fill the form, however, a close attention is required because it may ask to provide additional information mandatory to be attached with the form. This additional info includes original identification documents, or certified copies by the agency that issued them.

Submission of the Completed Form:

When completely filled, the form needs to be submitted to the IRS immediately. There are various ways to submit the form for renewal to the relevant department, the easiest ways are following; you can mail the form and additional documents to the IRS departments to the address mentioned in the form. Another way is to get an authorized Center Acceptance Agent to get your form reached to the IRS or even you can book an appointment to at IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center.

Additional Documents That You May Require for Renewal:

As said above, you need to attach additional documents, here is the list of those documents:

Passport: it can be considered as a stand-alone document for the dependents mentioning the date of entry in the U.S.

Otherwise, an additional ID from the following is required.

National ID card

U.S. driving license

Birth certificate (for dependents under 18)

Foreign driver’s license

U.S. state ID card

Foreign voter’s registration card

U.S. military ID card

Foreign military ID card

Visa

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services photo identification

Medical records (only dependents under 6)

School records (dependents under 14, or under 18 if a student)

Online Filling is Not an Available Option:

One thing is to remember regarding this form is that there is no option to fill the form online. E-filling is not available so you have to get the prints, fill it in and submit to the IRS department.

Update on the Renewal:

Once submitted for the renewal, it can take up to seven weeks till you get the notification or update about the status of your application. There is a document called CP565 is sent by the IRS department which indicates the confirmation of the renewal of an ITIN.